I thought about it. Thought about my mother talking about getting a degree at last. Paging through those college catalogs still, but dreaming now for herself. I considered the way her dreams for me took different shapes, and how one of them might look like this: back on the road with someone else who knew me. Knew me. Who could love me, maybe, if I stuck around long enough to let him.
His palm was going sweaty on mine.
“Where do you want to go?”
“I mean. Montreal? LA? This world I went to that’s basically one big garden, where everything’s edible but it all gives you really weird dreams?” He looked at me. “Or we could just go to New Jersey. Eat pizza.”
“That sounds good,” I told him.
“Which part?”
“The part where you’re with me.”
Falling for someone makes you say shit that would’ve made you vomit, back before you were toast.
It’s true that sometimes I think about the third Alice, the one the Spinner claimed I carry inside me. If I’m still here, she must be, too. And I wonder, again, how I’m still here. Whether it’s by the grace of the slumbering Spinner or whether being loved by people who actually belong in this world made all the difference. Maybe Finch did something wrong when he ended his world. Or he did something right, and kept it a secret. If the Spinner’s still alive somewhere, I hope she’s sleeping in her golden cage. Hurting no one. Dreaming of fairy tales. And if she’s gotten out, remade herself, I hope she doesn’t come looking for us.
I don’t think she will. We’re something formidable now. I’m an ex-Story, the girl who got away. He’s a Spinner who survived the rise and fall of his world. We’re both survivors, the two of us. We’re wanderers. We could make a home in any world.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Hats off to the usual suspects: Faye Bender, my indispensable agent; and Sarah Barley, my tireless editor. Sarah, this book would be a blob floating in space without your patience, your faith in the story, and most of all your questions, which never failed to unlock doors I didn’t know were there. To the whole Flatiron team, my eternal gratitude for the care you’ve taken with this book and its weird sister (or maybe this book is the weird sister). The Hinterland and I couldn’t have found a better home.
Thank you also to two intimidatingly brilliant authors who helped make this book better: Emma Chastain, for your sharp, life-saving story notes; and Emily X. R. Pan, for turning your gimlet eye on the so-close draft.
Second books are hard, I’ve heard. Wouldn’t know. (Hahahahaha!) Thank you, thank you to all those who generously shared their advice, a listening ear, and most of all their own stories of surviving the trials of the second book. You will go unnamed here, but you know who you are. Thank you also to Tara Sonin, for offering emotional text support; and to Josh Perilo, for patiently listening to a whoooole lot of angsting. Stephanie Garber, thank you for being a lighthouse of kindness. Bill Tipper, thank you for your practical support and understanding.
Thank you to my parents, my first readers and the best unpaid street team I could ever ask for. Thank you to Michael, for too many things to write down here without getting hot eye. And Miles, my Miles. Thank you.
ALSO BY MELISSA ALBERT
THE HAZEL WOOD
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Melissa Albert is the New York Times bestselling author of The Hazel Wood. She was the founding editor of the Barnes & Noble Teen Blog and has written for publications including McSweeney’s, Time Out Chicago, and MTV. Melissa lives in Brooklyn with her family. The Night Country is her second novel. You can sign up for email updates here.
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CONTENTS
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Dedication
Epigraph
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Acknowledgments
Also by Melissa Albert
About the Author
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
THE NIGHT COUNTRY. Copyright © 2019 by Melissa Albert. All rights reserved. For information, address Flatiron Books, 120 Broadway, New York, NY 10271.
www.flatironbooks.com
Illustrations and cover design by Jim Tierney
The Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request.
ISBN 978-1-250-24607-3 (hardcover)
ISBN 978-1-250-25813-7 (international, sold outside the U.S., subject to rights availability)
ISBN 978-1-250-24608-0 (ebook)
eISBN 9781250246080
Our ebooks may be purchased in bulk for promotional, educational, or business use. Please contact the Macmillan Corporate and Premium Sales Department at 1-800-221-7945, extension 5442, or by email at MacmillanSpecialMarkets@macmillan.com.
First U.S. Edition: January 2020
First International Edition: January 2020